Alvarez has showed excellent development this year, easily establishing a
career high in HR (and leading all the minors with 20) before Los Tigres
called him up. In his first major-league start, he recorded his first
major-league two home run game.

This is a nice rags-to-riches prospect story, and the home run stroke he has
exhibited thus far is for real. There's an important footnote here,
though: Alvarez is a terrible defensive player. He has played at both SS and
3B in the minors, and has been a liability at both positions. If the Tigers
can stand his defense, they'll have turned Travis Fryman into a cheap, young,
mediocre OBP but plus power player at the hot corner; if not, Alvarez does not
have the bat to move any further to the left in the defensive spectrum.

Of course, a trade would be the best solution. If Randy Smith can snooker
another club out of a Jeremy Giambi type talent, he'd really look good for
it in a couple of years.

He started off terribly at Las Vegas this year, but when the Padres were forced
to call him up in May because of injuries, he started hitting and hasn't
stopped since. Hey, whatever works.

Rivera is something of a forgotten man since his days as a Yankee property,
when he was frequently mentioned as one of the game's top prospects. He's
struggled with injuries since his trade to San Diego, but he could always hit.
The plate discipline he has shown thus far is very encouraging, and, unlike
Alvarez, Rivera is a legitimate major league defensive player. He'll be the
Padres starting CF by Opening Day next year, at latest, and should stack up
well with his counterparts around the league.